Pronouns

Pronouns are a closed class of words used as references or substitutions for noun phrases. In Hîsyêô, pronouns do not change form based on case (subject/object), their role is determined entirely by the preposition that precedes them.

Personal Pronouns

Pronouns in Hîsyêô do not distinguish gender. They distinguish between animate (people/animals) and inanimate (objects/concepts). Plurality is usually contextual or marked by the determiners êto, yoûtî, or môî if specificity is needed.

Latin

ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ

aStK ulNfu

Person	Hîsyêô	Meaning	Usage
1st Singular	noyo	I, me	Refers to the speaker.
1st Plural	nîmû	we, us	Refers to a group including the speaker.
2nd Person	nîo	you	Singular or plural ("y'all").
3rd Animate	umo	she, he, they	Used for humans, animals, gods, and spirits.
3rd Inanimate	umo	it, they	Used for objects, concepts, and abstract ideas.

Plurality & Clusivity

There is only one plural pronoun and that's for 1st person plural ("we", "our", and "us" in English). The word nûs is used for exclusive 1st-person plural but by prepending môî you can achieve an inclusive 1st-person plural. All other pronouns are technically number-neutral. Context usually implies number. However, to be explicit, you can modify the pronoun with a determiner:

Latin

 môî  nîmû You all (lit: all of you)

 dûî  nîo The two of them (lit: two of you)

ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ

 ƶıɽɟ  ƨɟƶʄ You all (lit: all of you)

 ʌʄɽɟ  ƨɟɽ The two of them (lit: two of you)

aStK ulNfu

 moi  nimu You all (lit: all of you)

 dui  nia The two of them (lit: two of you)

Reflexive Pronouns

When the object of a sentence is the same entity as the subject (agent), you must use the reflexive pronoun to avoid ambiguity.

Hîsyêô	English	Usage
cizî	-self	Himself, herself, itself, themselves, myself.

Latin

 nîo  dêko  nîo. He sees him. (He sees a different person).

 nîo  dêko  cizî. He sees himself. (Reflection or introspection).

ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ

 ƨɟɽ  ʌʇɔ  ƨɟɽ: He sees him. (He sees a different person).

 ƨɟɽ  ʌʇɔ  ꞇȷⱴɟ: He sees himself. (Reflection or introspection).

aStK ulNfu

 nia  dek  nia. He sees him. (He sees a different person).

 nia  dek  cjzi. He sees himself. (Reflection or introspection).

You can always add an additional pronoun as modifier if you want to clarify which self is being referred to.

Latin

 noyo  kôto  fos  nîo  bi  towê  ênkômôn  kûu  wêtû  cizî  nîo  hoî  bitûn  fêlcîn. I told him to shave last night. (I told him to shave himself last night)

ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ

 ƨɀ  ɔıc  ɤ́  ƨɟɽ  ʋȷ  cʒʇ  ɽ̃ʇɔıƶ̃ı  ɔʄɽʃ  ʒʇcʄ  ꞇȷⱴɟ  ƨɟɽ  ɂɽɟ  ʋȷc̃ʄ  ɤ͊ʇꞇ̃ɟ: I told him to shave last night. (I told him to shave himself last night)

aStK ulNfu

 ny  kot  fS  nia  bj  twe  eNkomoN  kur  wetu  cjzi  nia  hAi  bjtuN  feLciN. I told him to shave last night. (I told him to shave himself last night)

Most of the time, you can safely assume that the reflexive pronoun is referring to the subject of the currently scoped clause.

Demonstratives (Deixis)

Demonstratives are words used to point at specific things in physical space or within the conversation. Hîsyêô uses a three-way distinction based on distance from the speaker and listener.

Proximal (Near Speaker)

Word: ôfo
Meaning: This / These
Usage: Refers to something physically close to the speaker, or a topic the speaker just introduced.

Latin

 noyo  cûdo  ôfo. I give this (thing in my hand).

ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ

 ƨɀ  ꞇʄʌ  ɽıɤ: I give this (thing in my hand).

aStK ulNfu

 ny  cud  of. I give this (thing in my hand).

Medial (Near Listener)

Word: ulyô
Meaning: That / Those (by you)
Usage: Refers to something close to the listener, or something the listener just mentioned.

Latin

 kûu  gomî  ulyô. Take that (thing near you).

ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ

 ɔʄɽʃ  ꜿƶɟ  ɽ͊ʃɀı: Take that (thing near you).

aStK ulNfu

 kur  gmi  rLyo. Take that (thing near you).

Distal (Near Neither / Specific)

Word: onô
Meaning: That / The / Yonder
Usage: Refers to something far away from both parties, or a specific, previously established topic.

Latin

 yonlûs;  noyo  betîdo  fos  noyo  fôlun  onô. No, I meant I want that (one over there)

ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ

 ɀ̃ʓ́ʄʭ  ƨɀ  ʋɿcɟʌ  ɤ́  ƨɀ  ɤıʓ̃ʃ  ɽƨı: No, I meant I want that (one over there)

aStK ulNfu

 yNluS;  ny  bqtid  fS  ny  folrN  ano. No, I meant I want that (one over there)

Definite Article?

In translations it may seem that onô is the most common demonstrative. It is often used as a replacement for the definite article ("the").

Latin

 zowo  onô

ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ

 ⱴʒ  ɽƨı

aStK ulNfu

 zw  ano

Since the entity is distant, this pronoun may only be providing definiteness, i.e., you are practically saying "A specific dog that isn't nearby." In regular spoken conversation, Hîsyêô speakers find this added specificity is not necessary nearly as often you might think. Try to rephrase the sentence in an indefinite manner and see if the overall intent of the sentence is lost. Very rarely does the ambiguity not resolve itself through context.

Possessive Pronouns

In Hîsyêô, pronouns function as possessive adjectives when they are placed immediately after a noun. There is no change in the pronoun's form; the syntactic position dictates the relationship.

Construction	Literal Meaning	English Equivalent	Example
Noun + Pronoun	Noun [of] Pronoun	Possessive + Noun	sûtûô noyo (my friend)

Examples:

Latin

 tômôs  noyo my book (lit: book me)

 niwos  nîo her house (lit: house she)

 kûôxi  nûs our fruit (lit: fruit we)

ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ

 cıƶ́ı  ƨɀ my book (lit: book me)

 ƨȷʒ́  ƨɟɽ her house (lit: house she)

 ɔʄɽıɋȷ  ƨ́ʄ our fruit (lit: fruit we)

aStK ulNfu

 tomoS  ny my book (lit: book me)

 njwS  nia her house (lit: house she)

 kuoxj  nuS our fruit (lit: fruit we)

Indefinite & Interrogative Pronouns

These pronouns refer to unspecified people or things, or are used to ask questions about them.

Hîsyêô	Type	English	Example
umo	Indefinite (Animate)	Someone, One, Person	umo kôto... (Someone said...)
uyo	Indefinite (Inanimate)	Something, Thing	noyo buswen uyo. (I need something.)
zik	Interrogative	Which? / What?	zik li yonlûs? (What is wrong?)
dîzel	Alterity	Other, Another, Else	nîo li xôn en û dîzel (li xôn). (It is better than the other.)

Reciprocity

To express "each other" or mutual action, Hîsyêô uses the phrase xokôn dîzel (literally: each other).

Latin

 nûs  lîûbît  xokôn  dîzel. We love each other.

ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ

 ƨ́ʄ  ʓɟɽʄʋ̆ɟ  ɋɔ̃ı  ʌɟⱴ͊ɿ: We love each other.

aStK ulNfu

 nuS  liubiT  xkoN  dizqL. We love each other.

Impersonal Pronouns

You can construct an impersonal pronoun by preceding a noun or adjective with ônî. This creates a phrase that refers to an entity defined by that quality, similar to the English construction "the [adjective] one" or "the [noun] one".

When used with a noun, it adopts the modifier-meaning of that noun.

Construction	Meaning	Example	Translation
ônî + Noun/Adj	The [X] one	ônî ûnfûnô	The vegetable one

Usage

This structure effectively acts as a placeholder for a noun that has been omitted but is understood from context or defined by its descriptor.